New members of the Faculty of Medicine, appointed between December 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007,  were introduced at a reception on February 13, 2007.  These receptions are held as an opportunity for new faculty members to meet the UTMB community.  Click here for a listing of the new faculty.

Anesthesiology

Pictured: New faculty member, Dr. Stephen Hoskins, instructor; and Dr. George Kramer, professor.

Dr. Hoskins' clinical interest is developing novel fluid therapies for the resuscitation of burns and shock. His major research interest is microcirculatory transport of fluids and macromolecules. In addition, specific research interests have focused on intraosseous route and other novel methods of drug delivery for emergency situations.

 

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Pictured: New faculty members, Drs. Marc Morais, assistant professor, and Dr. Kyung (Kay) Choi, assistant professor; Dr. J. Regino Perez-Polo, chair; and new faculty member, Dr.  Junji Iwahara, assistant professor.  Also pictured is Dr. Vicente Resto, assistant professor, Department of Otolaryngology.

Dr. Morais uses a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, and bioinformatics to elucidate the structures of complex macromolecular assemblies and machines. His work focuses on virus structure and the general principles by which viruses self-assemble. In particular, he is interested in how virus self-assembly strategies can be targeted in the design of anti-viral therapeutics, and how these same strategies might be employed in the construction of nano-machines.

Dr. Choi is a structural biologist who utilizes X-ray crystallography and Cryo-electron microscopy. Her main focuses are structure and mechanism of viral replication and infection machinery in animal viruses and bacteriophages. She is looking forward to growing orchids in Galveston’s warm weather.

Dr. Iwahara studies the structural and dynamic aspects of the target search process whereby transcription factors efficiently locate their specific DNA sequence in a sea of non-specific DNA. NMR spectroscopy is the primary means for his research. He lives in the Clear Lake area with his wife Mizuho, 4-year old daughter, Kana and 1-year old son, Rei.

Family Medicine

Pictured: New faculty member, Dr. Anika Bell-Gray, assistant professor; Dr. Barbara Thompson, chair; and new faculty member, Dr. Huelen Smith, assistant professor.
 

Dr. Bell-Gray joined the UTMB Family HealthCare Center in Texas City in 2006. She is board-certified in family practice by the American Academy of Family Practice. Bell-Gray received her bachelor's degree in microbiology at the University of Texas at El Paso before earning her medical degree from UTMB, where she also completed a residency in Family Medicine .

Bell-Gray has a special interest in treating the entire family; from adolescents to the elderly. She volunteers with her church and community in a variety of roles. Bell-Gray is a member of National Medical Association, the Galveston County Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Texas Medial Association, the American Academy of Family Practice, and the Texas Academy of Family Practice. She also speaks Spanish.

Dr. Huelen E. Smith, Jr. joined the UTMB Family HealthCare Center in Galveston in 2006. He is board-eligible in family medicine by the American Academy of Family Practice. Smith received his bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio before earning his medical degree from UTMB, where he also completed a residency in Family Medicine.

Smith has a special interest in community medicine, adolescents, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral medicine/psychiatry, and sports medicine. He volunteers in a variety of roles with his church and their mission efforts. Smith is a member of American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and the American Academy of Family Practice.

Microbiology & Immunology

Pictured: New faculty member, Dr. James LeDuc, professor; and Dr. David Niesel, chair.

Dr. LeDuc serves as the director for Global Health in the Institute of Human Infections and Immunity. He holds the inaugural Robert E. Shope Chair in Global Health. LeDuc has completed nearly four decades of public service in various technical and leadership positions within the federal government before joining the University of Texas Medical Branch, during which he has established himself as an expert in global health, emerging infectious diseases, and the epidemiology of vector-borne viruses. His research interests are in these fields, and his current vision is to help build partnerships that link the exceptional talents and facilitates of UTMB with experts around the world to address relevant challenges in public health, bioterrorism preparedness, and the development and use of practical interventions to address infectious diseases of global importance.

Jim and his wife, Maryellen, have three married daughters and four grandchildren. Maryellen has had a number of interesting positions starting as an Army nurse and later as an instructor of nursing, then as a senior administrator in the Frederick County, Maryland school system, and most recently as the Chief of Protocol for the US Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, a position she enjoyed for four years while Jim was assigned to the World Health Organization. For the past several years her time has been primarily occupied by caring for her elderly mother. Jim and Maryellen are in the process of moving to Galveston.
 

Neurology

Pictured: Dr. Tetsuo Ashizawa, chair; and new faculty member, Dr. Rakez Kayed, assistant professor.
 

Dr. Kayed received his doctorate degree in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry in 2000 from the University of Tübingen, Department of Physical Biochemistry/Physiological Chemistry, Tübingen-Germany. After postdoctoral training in 2003 at the Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, he worked there as a research assistant professor. In 2007 he was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative diseases at UTMB.

Kayed’s main interests lie in the areas of protein misfolding and aggregation, amyloid fibrils and various other aggregates characteristic of amyloid (misfolding) diseases. These include Alzheimer's disease, immunoglobulin-light-chain disease, type II diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, prion disease, serum amyloidoses, and familial amyloid polyneuropathies. As the list of these diseases grows, it becomes more crucial to understand the mechanism(s) of amyloid formation and accumulation as well as the pathway(s) of protein assembly that involve intermediate(s) which are significant in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Currently, his focus is on studying the structure, toxicity and the pathological significance of all amyloid species, specially soluble low molecular weight oligomers and protofibrils, These species are not only common among all amyloidogenic proteins, but also share common structural features regardless of their sequence.
 

One of the many approaches Kayed pioneered is to utilize the structural information about each species in vitro and try to raise conformation-specific antibodies against each. This would help in studying these diseases in vivo, and a better understanding about the mechanism(s) of one of these diseases could unlock the mechanism(s) of other diseases. Furthermore, elucidation of such mechanism(s) might aid in developing a safe vaccine for all amyloid diseases, as well as small-molecule inhibitors, biomarkers and in vivo imaging reagents. He is also interested in the role of the cell membrane/receptors in amyloid disease pathogenesis.  Kayed's decision to join UTMB was driven by the fact that UTMB is home for outstanding researchers and has well equipped facilities which makes it a great place to continue his research.

Kayed's research is supported by the American Health Assistant Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association. He is co-author of more than 35 publications, three of them were among the ten most important papers in Alzheimer’s disease and one of his papers was the most cited paper in Alzheimer’s disease since it was published in 2003, according to Nature Medicine, 12, 7, 754, 2006.

Pharmacology & Toxicology

Pictured: New faculty member, Dr. Jose Moron-Concepcion, assistant professor; and Dr. James Halpert, chair

Dr. Jose Moron-Concepcion, joined the UTMB faculty on December 1, 2006 as an assistant professor. He was previously at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Moron-Concepcion, who was hired through a joint effort between the Center for Addiction Research and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, studies the molecular determinants of morphine addiction using a combination of biochemical techniques and modern proteomics approaches.  Moron-Concepcion is married to Dr. Joanne Cousins, who is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology.



 

Surgery

Pictured: Dr. Brian Zachariah, medical director, Emergency Medicine; and new faculty member, Dr. Mickey Viator, assistant professor.

Born in Abbeville, Louisiana, Dr. Viator attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). He received his medical degree from LSU Medical School in New Orleans in 1978 and served a general pediatrics residency at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge in 1981. He practiced solo practice of pediatric and adolescent medicine in Lafayette from 1981 to 1989.

Viator moved to Houma, Louisiana in 1989 to open a pediatric walk-in clinic associated with the Emergency Room of Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma. Since then he has worked in several pediatric emergency rooms in the Louisiana area including Children's Hospital in New Orleans, Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans, Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, Lafayette General Medical Center and Women's and Children's Hospital in Lafayette.

Viator served as regional medical director for a seven parish (county) area in southeastern Louisiana for five years, during which time he received recognition from the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparations for his work with area hospitals in special needs shelter planning for hurricanes and other emergencies.

Viator is married to Sheila Bergeron who is a licensed practical nurse and has worked as a office nurse for a family doctors clinic in Houma for 20 years. They live in Dickinson and have an interest in historic buildings and love the beach.  Viator has two daughters and two stepsons.


Return to SOM Home Page